Getting started with Microsoft Biztalk 2010 (from 0)

I'm not from the Microsoft world. I have worked with ESB and BPEL products from the Java side (Websphere Process Server and ESB and Oracle SOA Suite) and now I "want" to try Biztalk. I know some C#. These are the steps I'm following.

Installation:

To install Microsoft Biztalk using a Virtual Machine with Windows Server 2008 in your 64 bit computer, follow this steps:

1. Download and install Oracle VirtualBox here 
2. Download Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 trial here 
3. Download SQL Server 2008 R2 trial here (follow the "Download SQL Server 2008 R2 Eval X86 Executable (1.31 Gb)" link). I don't know if you can use SQL Server 2008 R2 Express (the free edition).
4. Download Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate trial here. You can't use Visual Studio Express to develope on Biztalk.
5. Download Biztalk Server 2010 Developer Edition here (or you can also download the 120 days trial here)
6. Get a Office 2007 or Office 2010 installer (only if you want to try BAM).
7. Create a Virtual Machine for Windows Server 2008 in Oracle VirtualBox.
8. Install Windows Server 2008 R2 on the Virtual Machine (next, next, next)
9. Download the Biztalk installation guide (Installing BizTalk Server 2010 on Windows Server 2008 R2 and 2008.docx) here.
10. Install Visual Studio, SQL Server, Office Excel and Biztalk 2010 on Windows Server 2008 following the guide (is easy to follw).
11. Start learning, you have 180 days left :(

Basic documentation

• BizTalk Server Developer Center

Related blog posts

• BizTalk Server 2010 Exam : How to prepare?

Classloading issues when working with Procrun and Prunsrv (Apache Commons Daemon)

I was trying to configure a standalone Java program to run as a Windows service (an standalone Web service client using Axis2) using Apache Commons Daemon.

I used a great post by Christopher Pierce as guide: http://blog.platinumsolutions.com/node/234

The program ran OK when I launched it from the command line console, but when I tried to run it as a Windows service with exactly the same configuration (jvm, classpath, etc.), the program failed with errors like these:

for Java 6:

java.lang.ExceptionInInitializerError
at java.lang.Class.forName0(Native Method)
at java.lang.Class.forName(Class.java:169)
at javax.xml.ws.spi.FactoryFinder.safeLoadClass(FactoryFinder.java:148)
at javax.xml.ws.spi.FactoryFinder.newInstance(FactoryFinder.java:30)
at javax.xml.ws.spi.FactoryFinder.find(FactoryFinder.java:128)
at javax.xml.ws.spi.Provider.provider(Provider.java:83)
at javax.xml.ws.Service.init(Service.java:56)
at javax.xml.ws.Service.create(Service.java:691)
at ...
Caused by: javax.xml.ws.WebServiceException: Error creating JAXBContext for W3CEndpointReference.
at com.sun.xml.internal.ws.spi.ProviderImpl$2.run(ProviderImpl.java:211)
at com.sun.xml.internal.ws.spi.ProviderImpl$2.run(ProviderImpl.java:206)
at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
at com.sun.xml.internal.ws.spi.ProviderImpl.getEPRJaxbContext(ProviderImpl.java:206)
at com.sun.xml.internal.ws.spi.ProviderImpl.clinit(ProviderImpl.java:77)
... 13 more
Caused by: javax.xml.bind.JAXBException
- with linked exception:
[java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: com/sun/xml/bind/v2/ContextFactory]
at javax.xml.bind.ContextFinder.newInstance(ContextFinder.java:187)
at javax.xml.bind.ContextFinder.find(ContextFinder.java:363)
at javax.xml.bind.JAXBContext.newInstance(JAXBContext.java:574)
at javax.xml.bind.JAXBContext.newInstance(JAXBContext.java:522)
at com.sun.xml.internal.ws.spi.ProviderImpl$2.run(ProviderImpl.java:209)
... 17 more
Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: com/sun/xml/bind/v2/ContextFactory
at java.lang.Class.forName0(Native Method)
at java.lang.Class.forName(Class.java:169)
at javax.xml.bind.ContextFinder.safeLoadClass(ContextFinder.java:479)
at javax.xml.bind.ContextFinder.newInstance(ContextFinder.java:185)
... 21 more
java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: Could not initialize class com.sun.xml.internal.ws.spi.ProviderImpl
at java.lang.Class.forName0(Native Method)
at java.lang.Class.forName(Class.java:169)
at javax.xml.ws.spi.FactoryFinder.safeLoadClass(FactoryFinder.java:148)
at javax.xml.ws.spi.FactoryFinder.newInstance(FactoryFinder.java:30)
at javax.xml.ws.spi.FactoryFinder.find(FactoryFinder.java:128)
at javax.xml.ws.spi.Provider.provider(Provider.java:83)
at javax.xml.ws.Service.init(Service.java:56)
at javax.xml.ws.Service.create(Service.java:691)
at ...

for Java 5:

java.lang.NullPointerException
at org.apache.axis2.jaxws.catalog.impl.OASISCatalogManager.determineFileName(OASISCatalogManager.java:124)
at org.apache.axis2.jaxws.catalog.impl.OASISCatalogManager.init(OASISCatalogManager.java:80)
at org.apache.axis2.jaxws.description.impl.ServiceDescriptionImpl.init(ServiceDescriptionImpl.java:165)
at org.apache.axis2.jaxws.description.impl.ServiceDescriptionImpl.init(ServiceDescriptionImpl.java:141)
at org.apache.axis2.jaxws.description.impl.DescriptionFactoryImpl.createServiceDescription(DescriptionFactoryImpl.java:129)
at org.apache.axis2.jaxws.description.impl.DescriptionFactoryImpl.createServiceDescription(DescriptionFactoryImpl.java:76)
at org.apache.axis2.jaxws.description.DescriptionFactory.createServiceDescription(DescriptionFactory.java:75)
at org.apache.axis2.jaxws.spi.ServiceDelegate.init(ServiceDelegate.java:208)
at org.apache.axis2.jaxws.spi.Provider.createServiceDelegate(Provider.java:59)
at javax.xml.ws.Service.init(Service.java:36)
at javax.xml.ws.Service.create(Service.java:120)
at ...

After some hours of searching, I found this bug:
Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader() == null when the program is runned by Prunsrv

I checked my program and this was the cause of my problem:

Running from Command line:

21/07/2010 12:44:05,281 - this.getClass().getClassLoader(): sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader@e39a3e
21/07/2010 12:44:05,281 - Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader(): sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader@e39a3e

Running as service with Procrun:

21/07/2010 12:44:29,359 - this.getClass().getClassLoader(): sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader@11b86e7
21/07/2010 12:44:29,359 - Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader(): null

I applied the workaround described there, and my service is now working OK.

ClassLoader defaultClassLoader = APISalidaServicioWindows.class.getClassLoader();
Thread.currentThread().setContextClassLoader(defaultClassLoader)

The configuration of the current configured Procrun Windows services can be edited/visualized in this Windows registry location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Apache Software Foundation/Procrun 2.0/(service name)/Parameters

Unicode Java codes for spanish characters

0x00E1 225 LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH ACUTE á
0x00E9 233 LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH ACUTE é
0x00ED 237 LATIN SMALL LETTER I WITH ACUTE í
0x00F3 243 LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH ACUTE ó
0x00FA 250 LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH ACUTE ú
0x00F1 241 LATIN SMALL LETTER N WITH TILDE ñ
0x00C1 193 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH ACUTE Á
0x00C9 201 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER E WITH ACUTE É
0x00CD 205 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER I WITH ACUTE Í
0x00D3 211 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER O WITH ACUTE Ó
0x00DA 218 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U WITH ACUTE Ú
0x00D1 209 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER N WITH TILDE Ñ

Java:

á - \u00E1
é - \u00E9
í - \u00ED
ó - \u00F3
ú - \u00FA
Á - \u00C1
É - \u00C9
Í - \u00CD
Ó - \u00D3
Ú - \u00DA
ñ - \u00F1
Ñ - \u00D1

"Java Dump" and "Heap Dump" Java triggering in IBM JVM

com.ibm.jvm.Dump.JavaDump()
com.ibm.jvm.Dump.HeapDump()

Enable unsecured JMX monitoring in IBM JDK 5

The same for Sun JDK...

-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.port=
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.authenticate=false
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.ssl=false

How I managed to run a standalone Oracle SOA Suite Worklist basic client

Escenary:

• Standalone command line remote client.
• No IDE.
• Basic client funcion: print all tasks for a hard-coded user.
• Based on "Invoking BPEL Worklist API from Remote Server with Java [Amis blog]" and buddy's help.
• I ran it on Java 1.4. It's not working on Java 5 for me. Java says: "java.lang.SecurityException: class "com.collaxa.cube.ExceptionIndex"'s signer information does not match signer information of other classes in the same package". But works also on Java 6. Ups.
  

"Project" layout:


"lib" directory:


"config" directory:


"schema" directory:


"src" directory:


"compile" file content:

set LIBDIR="lib"
set CLASSESDIR="classes"
set CP="%LIBDIR%\bpm-infra.jar;%LIBDIR%\orabpel-common.jar;%LIBDIR%\orabpel-thirdparty.jar;%LIBDIR%\orabpel.jar;%LIBDIR%\orasaaj.jar;%LIBDIR%\config;%LIBDIR%\bpm-services.jar;%LIBDIR%\schema;%LIBDIR%\wsclient_extended.jar;%CLASSESDIR%"
set JAVA_HOME="C:\java\j2sdk1.4.2_16"

%JAVA_HOME%\bin\javac.exe -classpath %CP% -d %CLASSESDIR% %1%

"run" file content:

set LIBDIR="lib"
set CLASSESDIR="classes"
set CP="%LIBDIR%\bpm-infra.jar;%LIBDIR%\orabpel-common.jar;%LIBDIR%\orabpel-thirdparty.jar;%LIBDIR%\orabpel.jar;%LIBDIR%\orasaaj.jar;%LIBDIR%\config;%LIBDIR%\bpm-services.jar;%LIBDIR%\schema;%LIBDIR%\wsclient_extended.jar;%CLASSESDIR%"
set JAVA_HOME="C:\java\j2sdk1.4.2_16"

%JAVA_HOME%\bin\java.exe -cp %CP% test.WorklistTest

"WorklistTest.java" file content:

package test;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

import oracle.bpel.services.workflow.IWorkflowConstants;
import oracle.bpel.services.workflow.client.IWorkflowServiceClient;
import oracle.bpel.services.workflow.client.WorkflowServiceClientFactory;
import oracle.bpel.services.workflow.query.ITaskQueryService;
import oracle.bpel.services.workflow.repos.Predicate;
import oracle.bpel.services.workflow.repos.TableConstants;
import oracle.bpel.services.workflow.task.model.Task;
import oracle.bpel.services.workflow.verification.IWorkflowContext;

public class WorklistTest {

private static final String USER = "user";
private static final String PASSWORD = "password";
private static final String REALM = "jazn.com";

public static void main(String[] args)
{
try
{

IWorkflowServiceClient client;
IWorkflowContext workflowContext;
ITaskQueryService taskQueryService;

client = WorkflowServiceClientFactory.getWorkflowServiceClient(
WorkflowServiceClientFactory.SOAP_CLIENT);
taskQueryService = client.getTaskQueryService();
workflowContext =  taskQueryService.authenticate(
USER, PASSWORD, REALM, null);

Predicate whereclause = new Predicate(
TableConstants.WFTASK_STATE_COLUMN, Predicate.OP_EQ,
IWorkflowConstants.TASK_STATE_ASSIGNED);

List displayColumns = new ArrayList();
displayColumns.add("CREATEDDATE");
displayColumns.add("TITLE");
displayColumns.add("IDENTIFICATIONKEY");
List optionalInfo = new ArrayList();

List tasks = taskQueryService.queryTasks(
workflowContext, displayColumns, optionalInfo,
"My+Group", null, whereclause, null, 0, 0);

if (tasks != null) {
String[] taskList = new String[tasks.size()];
for (int i = 0; i < tasks.size(); i++) {
Task t = (Task)tasks.get(i);
taskList[i] = t.getSystemAttributes().getTaskId();
System.out.println("Task " + i + ": " + taskList[i]);
}
} else {
System.out.println("Did not find any tasks");
}

}
catch (Throwable e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}

}

"wf_client_config.xml" file content:

<servicesClientConfigurations xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/bpel/services/client">

<ejb>
<!-- <serverURL>opmn:ormi://[server]:[opmn_port]:[oc4j_soa_instance]/hw_services</serverURL> --> <!-- for stand alone -->
<serverURL>opmn:ormi://[server]/hw_services</serverURL> <!-- for opmn managed instance -->
<user>oc4jadmin</user>
<password>password</password>
<initialContextFactory>oracle.j2ee.rmi.RMIInitialContextFactory</initialContextFactory>
</ejb>

<identityService>
<soapEndPoint>http://[server]:7777/integration/services/IdentityService/identity</soapEndPoint>
</identityService>

<identityConfigService>
<soapEndPoint>http://[server]:7777/integration/services/IdentityService/configuration</soapEndPoint>
</identityConfigService>

<taskService>
<soapEndPoint>http://[server]:7777/integration/services/TaskService/TaskServicePort</soapEndPoint>
</taskService>

<taskMetadataService>
<soapEndPoint>http://[server]:7777/integration/services/TaskMetadataService/TaskMetadataServicePort</soapEndPoint>
</taskMetadataService>

<taskQueryService>
<soapEndPoint>http://[server]:7777/integration/services/TaskQueryService/TaskQueryService</soapEndPoint>
</taskQueryService>

<userMetadataService>
<soapEndPoint>http://[server]:7777/integration/services/UserMetadataService/UserMetadataService</soapEndPoint>
</userMetadataService>

<runtimeConfigService>
<soapEndPoint>http://[server]:7777/integration/services/RuntimeConfigService/RuntimeConfigService</soapEndPoint>
</runtimeConfigService>

<!-- specifies the mapping for portal realm to is_config realm -->
<portal>
<realmMapping>jazn.com</realmMapping>
</portal>

</servicesClientConfigurations>

"wf_config.xml" file content:

<workflowConfigurations
xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/pcbpel/humanworkflow/configurations"
xmlns:user="http://xmlns.oracle.com/bpel/workflow/userMetadata">

<taskAutoReleaseConfigurations>
<taskAutoRelease priority="1" default="P1D" percentageOfExpiration="30"/>
<taskAutoRelease priority="2" default="P2D" percentageOfExpiration="40"/>
<taskAutoRelease priority="3" default="P3D" percentageOfExpiration="50"/>
<taskAutoRelease priority="4" default="P4D" percentageOfExpiration="60"/>
<taskAutoRelease priority="5" default="P5D" percentageOfExpiration="70"/>
</taskAutoReleaseConfigurations>

<worklistApplicationURL>http://[server]:7777/integration/worklistapp/TaskDetails?taskId=PC_HW_TASK_ID_TAG</worklistApplicationURL>

<actionableEmailAccountName/>

<pushbackAssignee>INITIAL_ASSIGNEES</pushbackAssignee>

<assigneeDelimiter><![CDATA[,]]></assigneeDelimiter>

<shortHistoryActions>
<action>ACQUIRE</action>
<action>INFO_REQUEST</action>
<action>INFO_SUBMIT</action>
<action>RELEASE</action>
</shortHistoryActions>

<workflowServiceSessionTimeoutInMinutes>60</workflowServiceSessionTimeoutInMinutes>

<user:ruleRepositoryInfo>
<user:ruleEngine>ORACLE</user:ruleEngine>
<user:repositoryLocation>WFRepository</user:repositoryLocation>
<user:dictionaryName>WFDictionary</user:dictionaryName>
<user:reposProperty name="reposType">jar</user:reposProperty>
</user:ruleRepositoryInfo>

<property name="worklist.redirectpage" value="TaskDetails" />
<property name="worklist.loginpage" value="Login.jsp" />
<property name="worklist.errorpage" value="Error.jsp" />

</workflowConfigurations>

Macros Vim

Para grabar la macro:

• q[letra (= nombre macro)] - Inicia el proceso de grabación
• ('recording' aparece en la parte inferior de la pantalla)
• Realizar los pasos que conforman la macro
• q - Finaliza el proceso de grabación

Para ejecutar la macro:

• @[letra nombre macro]